Posted on 09/14/2006 9:35:20 AM PDT by Milhous
CHICAGO Tribune Company reported Thursday that its period 8, or August, revenues were $419 million, down 1.6% from the same period in 2005. August publishing revenues were down 2.1% to $292 million from $298 million.
Total advertising revenues decreased 2.3% to $229 million, hammered by double-digit declines in national and some classified categories. Newsday also dragged down results. Excluding the New York daily, Tribune said, ad revenues would have been down 1%.
Retail advertising revenues increased 1.3%, Tribune said, with the hardware and home improvements, and specialty merchandise partially offset by weakness in the department store category.
Preprint revenues, most of which are included in the retail figure, were flat compared with 2005. Excluding Newsday, Tribune said, preprint would be up 2%.
The national category declined 10.9% with weaknesses across most categories, the Chicago-based media company said.
Classified revenues were down 1.0%.
Classified was buoyed by a 22% jump in real estate -- and dragged down by declines of 14% in automotive and 9% in help-wanted.
Circulation revenues were down 6.2%, which Tribune said was the result of continued selective discounting in home delivery.
Broadcasting and entertainment group revenues in August decreased 0.6 percent to $127 million, compared with $128 million last year, Tribune said.
Tribunesaurus sinks a bit deeper into the tar.
Thursday good news.
Wait til they are caught with the ole dumpster dump maneuver and are forced to report the real circulation numbers.
By the way got a call and many letters from my local rag The San Jose Jerkyourknee news, saying my subscription is been placed on hold and needs to be brought current. (I cancelled 5 years ago).
The letters are very deceiving and I wouldnt be surprised if a lot of old people send in a check thinking they owe the money but its actually a new subscription.
Someone needs to look into this practice.
The Presidents poll numbers are on the rise and the MSM's stock is on the decline. Can't get any better. hahahahaha
I think the Trib is a pretty good paper. They did endorse Bush in 2000 and 2004. But I mostly read it for the Sports section.
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid={5AE1083C-BF45-4C31-B6D1-2E726989BEAA}&siteid=mktw&dist=nbi
Tribune Co.'s August revenue falls 1.6% McClatchy experiences slight dip in monthly ad revenue By David B. Wilkerson, MarketWatch Last Update: 1:37 PM ET Sep 14, 2006
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Tribune Co.'s revenue fell nearly 2% last month compared with August 2005 on declining advertising sales at its newspapers and television stations, the media company said Thursday. Chicago-based Tribune Co. (TRB) said total revenue for August was $419 million, down from $425 million a year earlier.
The company said ad revenue at its newspapers fell 2.3% to $229 million. Excluding Newsday, Tribune Co.'s Long Island, N.Y., newspaper still recovering from the loss of preprint advertisement customers in 2005, advertising revenue was down 1%.
National ad revenue plunged nearly 11% amid "weakness across most categories," Tribune Co. said. Revenue from retail ads was better by 1.3%, however, with strong sales in specialty merchandise and hardware/home improvements.
Classified ad revenue fell1%, as automotive ad sales continued their lown downward spiral, dropping 14%. Help-wanted, once one of the better-performing categories across the newspaper publishing industry before diminishing in recent quarters, fell 9%.
Real-estate ad revenue stayed hot, jumping 22% despite concerns about a housing slowdown across the U.S. Online ad revenue, mostly reflected in classified, jumped 22% to $19 million on increases in real-estate and automotive categories.
Tribune Co. and other newspaper publishers are seeking to emphasize the growth of their Web-based ad revenue, saying that interactive readers are making their overall audience larger as print-publishing revenue diminishes. In July, Tribune Co. reiterated that it expects its Internet businesses to account for 12% to 15% of its publishing revenue by 2010.
Meanwhile, broadcasting and entertainment group revenue eased 0.6% to $127 million last month. Television revenue was down 1.2%, as solid sales in the movie and telecom categories were offset by declines in retail and automotive. Tribune Co.'s been under pressure from its largest shareholder to divest some or all of its broadcast assets as part of a radical strategy to lift its sagging stock price, which has lost more than 33% of its value since the end of 2004. In a similar vein, New York Times Co. (NYT) said earlier this week it plans to sell its nine television stations.
Also Thursday, McClatchy Co. (MNI) said that consolidated advertising revenue for August fell 0.3% to $179.7 million and that total revenue was down 1.1% to $211.7 million including the addition of newspapers purchased in the Knight Ridder acquisition.
National advertising revenue fell 7.5%, while retail was up 1.7%. Classified revenue declined 2%, reflecting a decrease of 8% in automotive ads and a 6% help-wanted drop. Real-estate ad revenue rose 9.8%. Circulation revenue fell 5.5%.
Tribune Co.'s shares traded down 25 cents at $31, while McClatchy eased 1 cent to $39.99. End of Story
David B. Wilkerson is a reporter for MarketWatch in Chicago.
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